The use of touchscreen interfaces is increasingly popular with illustrative electronic computing devices such as tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld audio and video control systems, portable music and video players as well as mobile and satellite telephones. This is mainly because of the ease of use, versatility of operation, and enhanced aesthetics of touchscreen interfaces. Touchscreen interfaces typically comprise a touch sensitive surface (which can be referred to as a touchscreen) and a display screen. The touch sensitive surface or touchscreen typically overlays, or is coextensive with, a specified portion of the display screen.
At present, a number of touchscreen technologies have been implemented with touchscreen interfaces to enable such touchscreen interfaces to determine one or more of presence, location, and motion of one or more objects, for example fingers, styli, and touch pens. Types of touchscreen technologies include resistive, capacitive, inductive, optical (IR), and acoustic technologies.
The touchscreen interface typically serves as a user interface, or means by which a user of the electronic device interacts with the electronic computing device. The touchscreen of the touchscreen interface serves as an input means of the electronic computing device for receiving input events (e.g., for enabling the user to enter instructions into the touchscreen). The touchscreen is typically capable of detecting or registering pointing objects placed either in proximity with the touchscreen or directly in contact with the touchscreen (i.e. input events). The detection of input events by the touchscreen triggers generation of input signals. Input signals are translated into output signals for producing output events that are effected by output devices of the electronic computing device, for example by the display screen.
The touchscreen interfaces of illustrative electronic computing devices are becoming increasingly smaller in size. Consequently, text, cursors, graphics, and icons displayed on the display screen are also becoming smaller in size. It is generally difficult to reduce the area of touch of the pointing object relative to the text, cursors, graphics, and icons displayed on the display screen. Consequently, it has become increasingly difficult to accurately move and/or select a desired specific cursor or icon displayed on the display screen of the touchscreen interface.
The positioning of the pointing object onto, or even in proximity with, the touchscreen of the touchscreen interface typically significantly obscures the field of view of that area on the touchscreen that the pointing object comes into contact with or is in proximity with. This may result in difficulties for the user to accurately view, move, or select a particular cursor or icon displayed by the display screen corresponding to said area on the touchscreen. In addition, the decreasing sizes of graphics and icons that are currently being displayed can result in difficulty for the user to view and/or select such graphics and icons, especially when the user needs to do so at a rapid speed.
There exist touchscreen technologies that enable the user to magnify a specified area on touchscreen interfaces upon detection of touch by the finger, stylus, or alternative pointing object. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/240,788 of Apple Computer Inc. discloses proximity based systems and methods capable of sensing objects positioned on, and/or in close proximity to, a display surface of an electronic device. The U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/240,788 further discloses the ability to expand an area of graphical information proximate the position of the object when the object is detected in space above the display surface. However, there exist several limitations to the systems and methods disclosed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/240,788. For example, it is said to be difficult to control the sensing or detection of the object. Accordingly, it may be difficult to prevent accidental or unwanted activation and magnification of areas of the display surface. In addition, it is not possible with the systems or methods disclosed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/240,788 to dynamically control the magnification of images displayed on the display screen.
There therefore exists a need for improving touchscreen or the like interfaces incorporated within electronic computing devices.